The first museum in this genre in the DC area, and in the entire United States, is the National Museum of Language (NML), which despite the name is also a private non-profit venture. Its origins go back to Dr. Amelia C. Murdoch and a “group of expert linguists, language specialists, and language enthusiasts” in 1971, but it wasn’t until 37 years later that a small museum space was opened in College Park, Maryland (Multidisciplinary Perspectives featured an article about their opening in 2008). Unfortunately, the recurring cost of the museum space turned out to be too high to maintain, so in 2014, NML closed its permanent exhibit and shifted to a strategy of moveable exhibits, an enhanced online presence, and other activities.

A tale of 2 museums

The first question that comes to mind on learning of the new language museum project in this metro area, is whether it and the older one are in communication. The answer, according to NML president Dr. Jill Robbins, is yes.

A second question or set of questions has to do with the relationship between the two – both in terms of missions (similarities, differences, complementarities), and in terms of practical links (such as connections among people working on the two different projects). These seem to me to be harder to answer. In part that is because one is new and the other still relatively young. And there are other differences between the two that would figure in any collaboration.

In terms of their respective missions, my impression is that NML is somewhat more focused on aspects of language diversity or “unity in diversity” (the themes of the museum include “universal aspects of language,” “language in society,” and “languages of the world”). Among various exhibits, they have done some interesting work presenting dialect research in the US, for example. From NML’s mission statement:

Our mission is to inspire an appreciation for the magic and beauty of language. We seek to lead our visitors to their personal discoveries of language and languages. …

My impression is that Planet Word is somewhat more concerned with language arts (note the incorporated name mentioned above) and applied linguistics. Literacy figures as “The Big Issue” on their “About” page. We can expect more details as the project develops, but in the meantime, an article in Chronicle of Higher Education by Planet Word board member Prof. Anne Curzan offers some insights into their thinking. Planet Word’s vision (from the About page):

Language is what makes us human. From earliest childhood we weave our words into speech to communicate. At Planet Word we inspire and renew a love of words and language through unique, immersive learning experiences.

On the organizational level, there are some obvious differences. For example, Planet Word is clearly able to access funding at a level several orders of magnitude above what NML has ever obtained. It also has a much larger board with a wider geographic and institutional representation than the smaller NML has.

On the other hand, NML has a significant experience with the practicalities of running a language museum – albeit on a smaller scale than Planet Word evidently aspires to – and in developing relations with educators and institutions in its vicinity and more widely. The latter include, for example being a founding member of the International Network of Language Museums (INLM; see also addendum, below), participating in events such as the IMLD 2013 celebration at the Bangladesh embassy in Washington, DC, and having a wall exhibit – about American lexicographer Noah Webster – on display at the Noah Webster House in West Hartford, Connecticut.

From the descriptions, however, it seems that Planet Word is modeling itself on certain larger museums – the National Museum of Mathematics in New York was mentioned in one article. Also, Planet Word is expected to have a major impact on development of its immediate neighborhood (see article in City Lab, which includes a comparison with the National Building Museum in DC) – not a role that NML has had to play.

All that said, these two language museums do occupy much of the same terrain even as their emphases and some of their angles may differ. The field of study of language(s) and linguistics after all is broad, and there are diverse approaches to organizing museums. So basically, it’s no surprise that “language museum” can mean different things.

A question at this point is what kind of collaboration might be possible and make sense from the points of view of NML and Planet Word, and also for the public, for whom even one language museum is still a novelty.

We’ll see how this develops, but it will be interesting to see an interview of Ms. Friedman that I am told is planned for publication on the NML website. One question I’d like to ask of both efforts is how they would celebrate IMLD, an annual observance that is not that well known in the US.

Addendum (Feb. 21)

Thanks to NML’s Dr. Robbins for feedback on this post as originally published, leading to some corrections to copy and also a clarification on her institution’s range of activity (which I further expanded on). A key element in that range is the INLM (a list of the members of which appears in an NML blog post).

In the interests of economy, I did not get into the subject of language museums worldwide in this post, even though they figured prominently in my compilation of resources on the International Year of Languages 2008. The global dimension of this class of museums (within the larger class of “locations” about language, to use David Crystal‘s term from “LADDA“) is to a certain extent unavoidable (some articles about Planet Word have mentioned the Mundolingua in Paris, for example), but important enough to merit a separate discussion.

The name gives the impression that it is government-owned, like the various other “national” museums and galleries in Washington, DC, it is actually a private effort by a small non-profit organization. It’s also physically rather small with basically one main exhibit room, and a small suite with some more displays, a meeting room for activities and classes, and a small office. But it is a beginning that was a long time coming – apparently the concept goes back to 1971 and the actual organization began in 1997 (and incorporated 10 years ago).

The mission of The National Museum of Language is to enhance understanding of all aspects of language in history, contemporary affairs, and the future.

… and it intends to “[foster] the study of the nature of language, its development, and its role and importance in society, and by exploring linguistic problems and ways of overcoming them” in order to serve people in diverse pursuits and walks of life, and to promote understanding.

The first exhibit of NML – “Writing Language: Passing It On” – focuses on writing systems. It has some nice examples and some interactive computer programs:

The opening exhibit … will show both alphabetic writing systems (Arabic, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew) and logographic writing systems (Chinese and Japanese). [from the press release]

In addition to looking at the exhibits, I also had the chance to talk with several of the principal leaders of the museum, notably Dr. Amelia Murdoch, the president, and Drs. Pat Barr-Harrison and Jill Robbins of the board of directors. They shared some ideas and plans about the museum project. Eventually they and their colleagues hope to be able to move into a facility of their own – either something existing or new, like the image displayed on the NML website.

The opening of the NML is a significant step, even if a small one, and hopefully it will get more attention and funding to realize its potential. Symbolically it is nice that it occurred in the International Year of Languages (IYL).

The NML is also one of a handful of locations devoted to languages around the world that deal with languages as a whole. One of the ideas that I’m personally interested in is finding a way to get these “language museums” linked in a productive network. In fact this is an emerging category of museum that in its broadest sense might include also language-specific museums. The IYL would seem to be an ideal time to develop connections and put in place structures that can facilitate collaboration and assistance to new initiatives for language-related displays and institutes for public awareness and learning.